Beal City overpowered by Muskegon Catholic Central in D8 final

Beal City players react to losing 35-12 to Muskegon Catholic Central in the high school football state finals on Friday, Nov. 29, 2013 at Ford Field in Detroit. (Sun photo by LISA YANICK-JONAITIS/@lisayj_msun)

DETROIT - For the second year in a row, Beal City left Ford Field with a sour taste in its mouth.

After running the table for the second consecutive season, the No. 1-ranked Aggies met longtime postseason rival and Division 8 powerhouse Muskegon Catholic Central early Friday morning with the MHSAA Division 8 state title on the line.

And like a year ago, Beal City wound up on the wrong end of a lopsided score, falling 35-12 in a game that was dictated from the get-go by the Crusaders.

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“Well, obviously it didn’t turn out the way we hoped,” said Beal City head coach Lou Rau. “We made a big hurdle getting here two years in a row, but we couldn’t quite finish it off with a win.”

Muskegon Catholic Central’s Alex Lewandoski set the pace for the No. 6-ranked Crusaders (12-2) when he broke free for a 78-yard scamper on the first play from scrimmage for Muskegon Catholic Central. Lewandoski was a true workhorse, rushing for a game-high 218 yards and scores of 78, 1 and 66 yards.

“Well, obviously when you give up a big run on the first play of the game that hurts. We had to dig ourselves out after that,” Rau said. “We responded, but then we gave up another big play. It definitely changes what we do and how we do it.”

Despite holding an edge on time of possession at 27:02-20:58 and running 11 more plays than the Crusaders, the Aggies (13-1) were outgained 402-263.

“We knew that No. 15 (Lewandoski) and No. 5 (Tommy Scott) were going to be tough out of the gate,” Rau said. “They ran our T-formation to a tee. We kept our guys in tight like we usually do to keep them on the outside, but we couldn’t stop them from going up the gut.”

With their backs against the wall early, the Aggies committed a number of drive-stropping penalties offensively, including a pair of illegal shift calls. In all, they committed six penalties for 44 yards.

“There were some clean up things that we didn’t take care of. There were some penalties that kind of got us down and we had some assignment errors here and there that were crucial. Obviously, they’re a big and fast team and you can’t make those kinds of mistakes,” Rau said.

Muskegon Catholic Central’s defensive line created havoc for Beal City, especially over the final two quarters as the Aggies were limited to just 110 yards of offense in the second half. The third quarter proved to be the turning point as the Crusaders took a 28-6 lead into the fourth quarter, limiting the Aggies to just 22 yards of offense in the process.

“We didn’t pick them up,” said Rau on Muskegon Catholic Central’s blitzing. “To be honest, it didn’t seem like they started blitzing till later and that we had picked up on it to begin with. When they send more guys than you have to block, it’s kind of hard to pick up on all of them.”

Muskegon Catholic Central entered the locker room with only a 14-6 lead, but forced Beal City to punt on its opening drive of the second half. Lewandoski would score his second touchdown of the game, this time from 66-yards out, just two plays later. Griffin Seymour’s extra point gave the Crusaders a 21-6 lead with 6:07 remaining in the third.

That Muskegon Catholic Central defense wreaked havoc again for Beal City on its next drive, when Blake Sanford intercepted a Kurt Gross pass at the Beal City 36-yard line. Tommy Scott would punch the ball in from 21-yards out just three plays later as the Crusaders held a 28-6 advantage.

Beal City had appeared to get right back into the game in the first quarter when Hayden Huber scored on a 2-yard run to cap off a six play, 55-yard drive. A missed extra point had the Aggies within a point at 7-6 with three seconds remaining in the first quarter.

It would take another three quarters before Beal City would crack the scoreboard. Backup quarterback Tucker Gross found Ryan Tilmann for an 8-yard reception with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Kurt Gross, the senior quarterback, finished the day 8-of-16 for 94 yards and an interception, while younger brother Tucker was 1-of-6 for eight yards with a touchdown and an interception. Tilmann led all Beal City receivers with three catches for 33 yards, while Ty Rollin caught three passes for 32 yards.

Hayden Huber led the limited Beal City run attack with 52 yards on 13 carries, while Rollin added 44 yards on nine rushes.

Defensively, Jacob Flaugher recorded a game-high 14 tackles, while Alex Schafer tallied 11 tackles. Nick Hoogerhyde also had a key interception just before halftime that derailed a Muskegon Catholic Central drive that was headed deep into Beal City territory.

Despite suffering the loss, the 2013 season was a historic one for Beal City. Friday’s appearance in the Division 8 title game marked the first time in program history that the Aggies had qualified for the state finals in back-to-back seasons. The 737 points scored this fall were not only the most scored in the history of the program but the second most points scored in a single season in MHSAA history.

“It’s tough going down in the state championships two years in a row, but when we look back on the seasons, especially this year, we broke a lot of records,” Rollin said. “Everybody came so far and worked so hard in the offseason in both years, so nobody has anything to hang their head about.”

Friday’s loss also concluded a historical fall for the Beal City athletic program as four teams reached the state finals this season. The girls cross country team captured the Division 4 state title in October, while the boy’s cross country finished seventh in Brooklyn. The volleyball team also came home from Battle Creek a weekend ago with its second runner-up finish in as many years.

About the Author

Joe Buczek is the Alma College beat writer and prep sports writer covering the occasional CMU event at the Morning Sun. He is a broadcast and cinematic arts graduate of Central Michigan University. Reach the author at jbuczek@michigannewspapers.com
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